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Pebble in the Sky (Galactic Empire #3)

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 · rating details · 5,544 ratings · 186 reviews

One moment Joseph Schwartzis a happily retired tailor in Chicago, 1949. The next he's a helpless stranger on Earth during the heyday of the first Galactic Empire.

Earth, as he soon learns, is a backwater, just a pebble in the sky, despised by all the other 200 million planets of the Empire because its people dare to claim it's the original home of man. And Earth is poor, wi...more

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published January 8th 2008 by Tor Books (first published 1950)

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May 19, 2011 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, games, the-tragedy-of-chess

He steps through a wormhole in space and ends up in a future world where he has exotic Super Powers -

Like what, I hear you ask? Right, listen to this. He can obtain a deadly attack as White from the variation of the Spanish which starts 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3. Impressive, huh?

I know. Alekhine showed it was possible a couple of times. And then there was the game Spassky won against Beliavsky in 1988. If you can play through that and not conclude that Boris had Super Power...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Michael Battaglia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Don't you just hate those days when you're walking down the street just minding your own business and then suddenly poof! you're in another time completely? That's how Joseph Schwartz's day starts, and it more or less goes downhill from there. Before too long he's volunteered for a scientific experiment because everyone assumes he's mentally damaged (due to nobody being able to understand a word he's saying, and vice versa, thanks to a several thousand year language gap) and that, hey, it can't...more Don't you just hate those days when you're walking down the street just minding your own business and then suddenly poof! you're in another time completely? That's how Joseph Schwartz's day starts, and it more or less goes downhill from there. Before too long he's volunteered for a scientific experiment because everyone assumes he's mentally damaged (due to nobody being able to understand a word he's saying, and vice versa, thanks to a several thousand year language gap) and that, hey, it can't make him any worse. So what if all the animals we've tried it on so far have died? This time's the charm! Besides, it's not like he'll be able to complain to anyone. And that's all before the plot really begins to start.

The Empire novels are kind of the misbegotten children of the Asimov stable of SF novels. Not only were they early works (this is apparently his first real novel, unlike stuff like Foundation and I, Robot, which were collections of linked short stories) but they don't have the thematic weight that the other series have, basically winding up being those stories that were set between the Robot and Foundation years, and even that was kind of determined after the fact. There don't seem to be continuing characters and are essentially a trilogy in all but name.

But even here Asimov clearly has something going for him. His idea of the future is topsyturvy in parts, with Earth being radioactive and an extremely minor player in galactic affairs. Everyone is ruled by a massive empire now and no one believes that they all came from Earth, except for some archeologists. The plot of the novel sneaks up on you, where you think it's going to mostly be able Schwartz and his acclimation into future society, but he hardly even gets a chance to become used to his surroundings before people start chasing him in the name of science, until he gets the ability to fight back. His injection into sideways politics, a bystander who manages to upend the scene, isn't what you normally saw in Golden Age SF of the time, generally your protagonist was a go-getter space hero character, where nobody here falls into that category. It gives a weird everyman perspective to events, which only makes it seem stranger because everything is new for us, but with all the rapid changes even the characters don't seem to know which end is up.

It makes for fun reading when it gets going, which like most Asimov books it takes a bit to really kick into gear. Still, even at this point in time he had some of his old tricks, his allergy to anything resembling action is already apparent, with the ending coming along as people walking in from offscreen mopping their brows and going "Whew, that was tough. I almost didn't think we'd make it through!" It's the collision of ideas that sparks the mind here, as everyone tries to imagine the future in their own way, and coming to a type of happy medium doesn't seem to be an option. He makes you care, even though the stakes aren't anything we can really relate to and our one viewpoint character is absent for good chunks of a fairly short novel to begin with.

For amusement purposes, it's also interesting to see a future that doesn't seem to involve computers or the Internet (or famously, robots, which would get him into a pickle later when he tried to link the series) but there's a reason why SF never attempted to predict the future. But Asimov started out strong and while he's not in his prime here, he clearly has a taken on the genre that's groundbreaking in its own way, even if its more a quiet revolution than anything else. (less)

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Jan 29, 2013 Sakacaca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

El ultimo libro del Galactic Empire novels. Muy parecido en disfrute a sus predecesores... supuestamente me los leí alberrez... el primero de ultimo, pero la verdad esto no afecta en nada ya que las historias no están relacionadas, se hace alusión a algunos planetas pero nada mas... por ejemplo Trantor. Asimov es simplemente brillante, las historias son tan creativas, que es rajado pensar que fueron escritas hace tanto tiempo. El mae hasta profético es en algunos tech gadgets y no me extrañaría...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Smcleish rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published on my blog here in October 2000.

In 1949 when he was writing his first novel, Isaac Asimov had already had some success with published short stories. Pebble in the Sky shows both experience as a writer and inexperience in the longer form, as it tends to jump around rather too much for a continuous narrative to emerge. The style is basically fully developed, and (in his fictional writing) did not change a great deal over the next forty years.

In terms of the rest of Asimov's fi...more Originally published on my blog here in October 2000.

In 1949 when he was writing his first novel, Isaac Asimov had already had some success with published short stories. Pebble in the Sky shows both experience as a writer and inexperience in the longer form, as it tends to jump around rather too much for a continuous narrative to emerge. The style is basically fully developed, and (in his fictional writing) did not change a great deal over the next forty years.

In terms of the rest of Asimov's fiction, Pebble in the Sky is set in the galaxy ruled by the Galactic Empire based on Trantor whose downfall is the starting point of the Foundation trilogy. Its central character is an archaeologist, who sets out to prove the crackpot theory that Earth is the original home of mankind (the orthodox position is a form of convergent evolution). Earth is a galactic backwater, largely radioactive, ruled by a religious cult in uneasy co-existence with the Galactic authorities, a portrayal clearly based on the position of Judea in the first century Roman Empire. Any question of human origins and the source of the radioactivity is going to conflict with this cult, causing the trip to have major political repercussions.

This in itself would make an interesting story, but Asimov weakens it with his second major element. On twentieth century Earth a physics experiment goes wrong spectacularly, catapulting an unsuspecting passerby into the future. No explanation is given for what happens (which is unlike Asimov), and the presence of the time traveller is in the end used rather ineptly, as a treatment given to him to increase the learning capacity of his mind so that he can pick up the language turns him into a kind of superman. The whole of this strand of the plot is rather like a stereotype of a Marvel comic, and the original physics experiment is strikingly similar to that which kicks off E.E. "Doc" Smith's Skylark.

It is interesting that his big success of the next few years, the Foundation trilogy, is made up of shorter, pre-published elements. If I remember the chronology of Asimov's novels correctly, it was some years before Asimov wrote another novel conceived as a whole, the SF whodunit The Caves of Steel.(less)

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Nov 28, 2011 Ricardo da Luz Cezar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first Asimov's novel that I actually read from cover to cover. (this was 2 months ago). Brilliant, well done and fascinating. At every page my heart was jumping out of my mouth, for not knowing what was reserved for poor Schwartz! It was like I was with him at all times, but that's what a book is supposed to do I guess! So top 5 stars for this little book.

I also liked the linguistic suggestions that English was a very ancient language and that Schwartz was the only man to be able to speak i...more

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Dec 17, 2009 Melanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ones-i-have-listened-to

This would make such a boring movie. No explosions. No evil alien attacks. Not even a whole lot of fighting. The climactic duel is fought first with mind control and then with words. So yeah. Boring movie, but fun book. This was Asimov's first published novel. His author voice must be very strong, because as I was listening to this book, I remembered two other books by him that I had read and completely forgotten. He was a very smart man. And I was so happy that he measures the galaxy in volumes...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Norm Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Golden Age Science Fiction fans

Shelves: adventure-suspense, science-fiction

Pebble in the Sky, even though it was written first is the actually the third Empire novel by Isaac Asimov. The 8th book in the “recommended” reading if you're reading the combination of the Robot, Empire, and Foundation novels that Asimov eventually combined. In Pebble in the Sky you're immediately exposed to time travel that is thankfully only vaguely implied to how it occurs. There's no real transporter in Star Trek either... easy enough to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy a story that see...more

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May 09, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, science-fiction

A thrilling story of hate, love, betrayal, mystery all weaved together by the master tailor Asimov.
The main plot takes place on Earth, a backward planet, itself and its inhabitants hated by the entire galaxy. Here, an esteemed archaeologist arrives to make preparations for an archaeological expedition to uncover Earth's secrets. He is caught in a series of events that cause him to find humanity where other citizens of the galaxy can only find deformity, to ferociously fight to make the imperial...more A thrilling story of hate, love, betrayal, mystery all weaved together by the master tailor Asimov.
The main plot takes place on Earth, a backward planet, itself and its inhabitants hated by the entire galaxy. Here, an esteemed archaeologist arrives to make preparations for an archaeological expedition to uncover Earth's secrets. He is caught in a series of events that cause him to find humanity where other citizens of the galaxy can only find deformity, to ferociously fight to make the imperial leaders of Earth believe his story of revenge. In the end, the fate of all humanity (except for the sort-of humans that inhabit Earth) rests on the shoulders of a man out of joint, a stranger in a strange land and among strange people.
The marvelous dialogue between the characters involved in the plot, the Colonel and then the Procurator of Earth reminded me of the "Twelve Angry Men".
The most intriguing aspect of the book, in my opinion, was the "Law of the 60" which was the most important piece of legislation on Earth. It stated that (view spoiler) At first I was puzzled as to the reason behind this choice, but after meditating longer on the situation I came to understand the rationality behind it. The other option they had to keep the population in check was birth control, but in order to survive as a species the humans of Earth needed to adapt very quickly to the toxic environment they lived in. And it is scientifically proven that biological organisms evolve and adapt to a certain situation in several generations. Therefore it was more important for humanity to keep the newborns coming, each generation probably evolving new mutations, than to keep the old alive until their natural deaths.
In conclusion it is a very fun and easy read. You really don't need to read the previous two books of the series, since all they have in common is the universe of the Empire of Trantor. In each book the characters are different and the stories never intersect. Definitely a worth-while read and highly recommended to any Sci-Fi fan.(less)

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Nov 15, 2010 Giacomo Boccardo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

«Unico?» [...] «Non mi pare proprio! È un mondo comunissimo, un porcile, un cesso… Qualunque termine dispregiativo le venga in mente. Ma nonostante lo schifo che ti sale fino agli occhi, non può nemmeno vantarsi di essere il mondo peggiore della galassia. La verità è che rimane un pianeta qualunque, di bruti e contadini.»

Così è descritta la Terra decine di migliaia di anni dopo l'inizio della colonizzazione dello Spazio: un mondo di cui nessuno ricorda più il ruolo fondamentale nello sviluppo de...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Mary Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, fiction, library, asimov

Apparently this is in a series, Galactic Empire, and is the third in the series. Funny, since this is the first fiction book he wrote/published. Then again, I might be wrong, and even if I'm not, he was pretty amazing at writing things out of order.

This is the second time I've read this book, and I was stunned to find it in the audio book section of our library. It's been years since I've read anything by Asimov, which is a sad thing, because I think he's quite wonderful. It sort of shows that t...more

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Feb 28, 2009 Fen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a bit surprised by this one... I was expecting to really like it, considering my experience with other Asimov books and with SF&F from that era (I'm actually pretty good about viewing it through the lens of time, knowing that many of the things we now consider to be tired conventions were fresh and new), but the plot was filled with entirely too many convenient coincidences that were absolutely necessary for the story to happen. It just stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Tfitoby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Bringing the Empire sequence to a close is probably the most enjoyable of the three books.

I'm not sure if it actually was written on a chapter by chapter adventure serial basis but Asimov takes the concept and runs with it for full enjoyable effect. Each chapter filled with intrigue and entertainment ending at what could almost certainly be described as a cliffhanger. I imagined waiting the fortnight or month until the next issue would have been quite frustrating but incredibly rewarding.

An espi...more

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Oct 04, 2009 Beth rated it 1 of 5 stars

My husband I read this one together because we've been exploring some of the classic science fiction authors. This one didn't make me want to ever read another Asimov again. I was really looking forward to finishing it by the time we were half-way through. I get that Asimov was all about exploring ideas, and didn't care about character development, or ridiculously shallow romance, or idiotic dialog...but still. I really thought it was a terrible book. And the book's political agenda was SO trans...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Jim Kile rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This is an Asimov book that I did not know existed. It was first published in 1950 and its initial chapters take place in 1949. Having read many of Asimov's works, I think this story fits in well with those written later. Some of his later, common themes had even begun to emerge throughout this story such as the concept of a Galactic Empire and Earth being somewhat backwards by comparison even as it was the source of human life -- there are similar themes in Caves of Steel, for example.

The story...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fun

While Pebble in the Sky is Book 3 in the Galactic Empire series, it can be read as a stand alone, just as the other two books in the same series.

Overall, Isaac Asimov followed the same story arc as in the other two Galactic Empire series: Some crazy scientist with some odd gadgetry, young male hero that magically puts all the pieces together, desperate female that alternately needs rescuing or bedding. While a fun listen, it wasn’t anything shining. The space opera action was fun, the synapsifi...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who would trade a beautiful universe for a well constructed plot.

Shelves: sci-fi

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the book was awesome. It's not fantastic, just like the rest of the Foundation and Empire series wasn't fantastic. There's a reason why they are lesser known works. This story is decent, but not all of the characters make sense. There are a few too many, to be honest. Schwartz, in one sense the most interesting character, is largely superfluous to the overall plot. Which is all the stranger given that it seems like he's the main character for about the...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Dan Giaquinta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

kind of liked this but not really for the book. Isaac Asimov just isn't a very good writer. it's the imagination that i was interested in. characters kind of suck, story is a bit weak but looking through books like this is interesting to see how people view the future and technology before anything that they were describing actually happened. this is Asimov's first novel. written about 10+ years before any type of space program and about 20 before the man-on-the-moon. also before the initiation...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Garrett rated it 2 of 5 stars

*Spoiler alert*

The first book from Asimov I read was The Gods Themselves. The more Asimov I read, the more I realize it was a mistake to read that one first. My expectations were too high for this book. It was a slightly above average science fiction novel. It told a decent story with some decent social commentary. I felt like Asimov took some pretty major shortcuts in plot development through Schwartz and ultimately ended the book most anticlimactically using the magic abilities he pulled out o...more *Spoiler alert*

The first book from Asimov I read was The Gods Themselves. The more Asimov I read, the more I realize it was a mistake to read that one first. My expectations were too high for this book. It was a slightly above average science fiction novel. It told a decent story with some decent social commentary. I felt like Asimov took some pretty major shortcuts in plot development through Schwartz and ultimately ended the book most anticlimactically using the magic abilities he pulled out of his hat and gave to the hero. Oh no! We're all doomed! Nevermind. The End.

There are no likable characters in this book. The big, powerful, smart man that gets the pretty young girl is a violent asshole (O.o gross). The girl is a cry baby that occasionally says something wise in moments of turmoil. The hero has super powers but mopes around not caring about anything. The bad guy is respectable in his tactics, but he wants to destroy the galaxy because they hate his race. Everyone else is insignificant and meek.

The redeeming qualities of this book are its themes(but really only 1, and its only redeeming because of the fact that Asimov addressed it in 1950). Don't be prejudice. ALL the conflict in this book is caused by racial differences that don't even exist but have just been made up (sounds familiar). Ok, good, don't be a bigot because it gets you nowhere, isn't rational, and makes you a jerk. My problem with how Asimov addressed this theme is that everyone was racist anyway. People preached against racism but everyone practiced it. I know it was 1950 when Asimov wrote this and I can't expect him to have published a book about a world where people are blind to racial differences. But goshdarnit, he got SO close. The GALAXY was void of racial bigotry, except those one peoples. They are totally different. Complete trash. The one character that explicitly grew out of racism by the end of the book was a huge chauvinistic jerk that got off on punching people's faces in. I guess I wanted a respectable character and role model that isn't racist and isn't a chauvinist. I just keep reminding myself it was written in 1950. Good job for that, Asimov. This was the major theme of your first major novel. It is obviously something that was important to you. If only you could see how much progress we've made in defeating racism today, I think you'd be pleased. We're not there, but we've come a very, very long way since 1950. Better w/ each generation. We are all one race.

In conclusion. It's quite pleasing that this SciFi book addressed racism in 1950. However, the story is a little... meh. Also, the characters sucked.(less)

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Mar 06, 2012 Tani rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, male-author, scifi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 03, 2011 Perry Reed rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I recently re-read Asimov's Galactic Empire and Foundation trilogies, having not read any of them since I was a teenager. They were all written in the 1950's and boy does it show! Although they're set many thousands of years in the future, characters read newspapers, smoke, and treat women like... well, like it was still the 1950's.

That said, the bigger tale, that of a crumbling empire, and the work to reduce the length of the inevitable "Dark Ages" that follow its demise, still work as an alleg...more

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Aug 27, 2010 Faith Bradham rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

I know I'm going to get yelled at by all the sci-fi lovers out there, but Pebble in the Sky was not my favorite book of all time. This might be due to the fact that I find it hard to handle tech-y sci-fi like this, and enjoy dystopian sci-fi immensely more. I can read dystopias all day, but the tech-y stuff is difficult for me.

That being said, I did not get into this book until about halfway through it - I found I did not care about what was happening, and actually forced myself to keep reading...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pebble In The Sky is an example of great storytelling, but leaves a little to be desired as far as breadth of storyline.

The premise of an ancient in the midst of a highly "racial" environment was interesting and got me thinking of all sorts of potential ways the story could have played out. While I did enjoy the path Asimov took with "interracial" love, telepathy/telekinetics, and revenge, I was VERY disappointed that he didn't even touch upon the possible plot involving Schwartz, Arvardan, and...more

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Jun 01, 2012 April rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pebble in the Sky
Isaac Asimov
Fawcett Crest
1950 (25th printing)

While dated in it's treatment of women and in style, this light novel about a time misplaced man can still be read and enjoyed. Substitute the words Earther, Earthman, etc.. with Black, Colored, Negro, Indian, or any other Earth "minority", and you have a not subtle commentary on race relations in the 1950s.

The plot was solved too easily, and for all Asimov's race commentary, he fell into stereotyping the one female character as littl...more

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Apr 02, 2009 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, fiction, novels, sci-fi

Wow. I am pleased to have stumbled upon Isaac Asimov.
This is the second book I have read by him. Incredibly interesting.
Schwartz is simply walking down the street in Chicago when suddenly he finds himself in a completely different place. Unbeknownst to him, he has time-traveled many thousands of years into the future. The Earth is not the only inhabited planet now, although it is the most despised one. Schwartz is given a treatment that does something odd to his brain.
Add a Romeo and Juliet ty...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Zachary rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: irvite

"Pebble in the Sky" was good, but not exceptional. The characters were quite flat, especially the Ingenue whose main job was to be helpless. The plot-line was largely predicatable after an initial surprise, but it still had some charm.

The interest was also increased by a bit of religious irony. Exempli gratia, Asimov could not have failed to notice that Procurator Ennius' words mirror Pontius Pilot's, as he judges the Secretary: "I find no fault in this man." The irony comes from the Secretary's...more

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Oct 01, 2010 Marita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, sci-fi

Classic Science fiction where some science was actually discussed. I miss that in many current books set into the future. Naturally there were funny things like newspapers and microfiches, retro conversations and helpless women, yet there were mind enhancing technologies, galactic travel as well as time travel. Very interesting to see him predicting Extremist governments, nuclear fallout destroying the environment, hatred and fear of others as well as of viral diseases. One might almost see thos...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Mel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century-fiction, scifi

I quite enjoyed this book, unfortunately the ending was a bit of a let down. It was a lovely story of unexplained time travel where a person was put billions of years into the future where Earth was radioactive and isolated from a large galactic empire of regular humans. They were controlled by this weired religion that had them as the original birthplace of mankind. They were mutated and killed everyone when they reached 60 as the Earth could only support so much life. The plot was heading towa...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Eva Nickelson rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel is set on a radioactive Earth, where city names have been slightly, but not entirely, changed. Earth is the armpit of the galaxy. The ancients of Earth claim that all human life comes from there, while others believe that humans started independently on a multitude of planets.

Into this tension, there is a man from the late 1940s, a scientist and his daughter, and an archeologist from an outside world. While it is an interesting plot, there are too many main characters, and it is anti-...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Marcello Gorla added it · review of another edition

Dopo aver letto la quadrilogia robotica, questo libro mi sembra strano rispetto all'autore. Non sono un grande conoscitore di Asimov, ma in questo romanzo trovo molte forzature e molti punti di svolta risolti in modo Dicisamente meno affascinante rispetto agli altri libri.
In ogni caso ��, come tutti quelli che lo hanno preceduto nella mia esperienza sull'autore, un libro che fa riflettere sulla natura dell'uomo, della sua convivenza con le altre civilt��, a lui conosciute o meno, e sul modo in c...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Carol Waters rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of Asimov's astronomical (no joke) output. The language is stilted and the science didn't hold up, but he was a seminal figure in the genre. Why would an empire have a leader with no checks and balances? Do we want emperors rather than elected and term-limited leaders? The tantrum at the end of the book where the main character kept demanding to speak to the head honcho made no sense, and the racist "Earth Squaw" comments detracted as well. Did we really survive for so long to remain mean-...more

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About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books.

Professor Asimov is generally considered the most prolific writer of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the te...more Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books.

Professor Asimov is generally considered the most prolific writer of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy).

Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He penned numerous short stories, among them "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time, a title many still honor. He also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as a great amount of nonfiction. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.

Most of Asimov's popularized science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include his Guide to Science, the three volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery.

Asimov was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs" He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, a Brooklyn, NY elementary school, and two different Isaac Asimov Awards are named in his honor.

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Isaac Asimov. (2007, November 29). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:50, November 29, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...(less)

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Quotes from Pebble in the Sky

“They won't listen. Do you know why? Because they have certain fixed notions about the past. Any change would be blasphemy in their eyes, even if it were the truth. They don't want the truth; they want their traditions.” — 113 people liked it

“There never can be a man so lost as one who is lost in the vast and intricate corridors of his own lonely mind, where none may reach and none may save.” — 61 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1627320.Pebble_in_the_Sky?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317066506l/1627320.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1627320.Pebble_in_the_Sky?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov[/url]

Pebble in the Sky (Galactic Empire #3)

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